Meet Head of School Amy Bonnefond Smucker

On July 1, 2025, Amy Bonnefond Smucker started her tenure as Proctor’s Head of School. A veteran administrator, coach, and educator in New England independent schools, Amy believes in the role boarding schools play in shaping the lives of their students and employees. Her deep commitment to stewarding and sustaining school communities and her proven ability to develop strategies that will allow for the future sustainability of Proctor’s educational model are the perfect fit for the Proctor community. 

Amy most recently served as the Assistant Head of School for External Affairs at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine where she sat on the senior leadership team, co-taught a leadership class to eighth graders, and directly led the admission, communications, marketing, and advancement teams. For the past twelve years, her evolution as a leader at Berwick included innovative enrollment strategies to diversify the student body, deep engagement with the parent and alumni communities, partnering with a talented leadership team to innovate Berwick’s curriculum, and increased giving, alumni engagement, and admissions inquiries. Prior to her role at Berwick, Amy worked at Kents Hill School for twelve years, starting as a teacher, admissions associate, dorm parent, girls varsity hockey coach, and advisor, before evolving into the role of Director of Admissions. During her time overseeing admissions at Kents Hill, she helped redesign the school’s enrollment and engagement strategy, while continuing to serve as an advisor and dorm parent.

A product of boarding schools herself, Amy grew up on three different boarding school campuses, including Kents Hill School where her father, Rist Bonnefond, served as Head of School for over 20 years and her mother, Joy, taught art and tutored in the learning skills center.  A graduate of Loomis Chaffee School and Colby College, where she captained the women’s varsity ice hockey team, Amy earned a Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University.  In addition to her work at Berwick Academy, Amy has served as the Vice President of the Board of Directors of ISANNE (now AISNE - Association of Independent Schools of New England), a Faculty Member of CASE SAI (Council for Advancement of Schools and Education School Advancement Institute), and is a member of the Board of Directors of the David Krempels Brain Injury Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of individuals impacted by acquired traumatic brain injuries. Amy spent her summers as a camper at Camp Wyonegonic in Denmark, Maine, and stayed on as a counselor throughout college. Joining Amy on campus is her husband, Jimmy, a lifelong educator who served as Athletic Director and football, basketball, and baseball coach at Kents Hill School, and most recently a math teacher and baseball and basketball coach at Berwick Academy, and their two dogs, Moxie and Wookiee. 

Read more about Amy Smucker's Announcement as Head of School

Proctor’s ability to meet students exactly where they are, while offering them the tools, challenges, and support they need to thrive inspires me. Proctor understands that transformational growth comes from empowering students to take meaningful risks, creating those difficult, sometimes uncomfortable moments where failure is possible. This is a critical part of the process of building resilience, and is the kind of learning that is crucial for young people today, preparing them to lead in an ever-evolving world that demands adaptability, creativity, empathy, and emotional strength.”  -Amy Smucker